Treatment of articles made of leatherlike material



United States Patent 3,130,083 TREATNIENT 0F ARTICLES MADE OF LEATHER- LIKE MATEREAL Henry C. Turner, 26 Loxford St., Manchester, England No Drawing. Filed Jan. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 84,762 Claims priority, appiication Great Britain Jan. 27, 1960 2 Cim'ms. (Cl. 134-7) This invention relates to a method of treating leather articles such as shoes, wearing apparel, handbags and cases.

An object of the invention is to enable the leather to be cleaned Without affecting its nature and to enable cleaned suede or like materials to retain their nap. A further object of the invention is to enable leather articles to be decolon'zed in simple and effective manner.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of treating leather articles comprising subject ing the surface to be treated to a stream of fluid containing particles of a hard material other than sand.

Preferably the fluid used is in a cooled condition so that frictional heating of the treated surface is minimized. Suitable fluids for use as a carrier for the particle material are air, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, but other gases and liquids whose liquid/gas and solid/liquid transition temperatures respectively are suitable can be employed also. For example, if carbon dioxide is used it would be stored in a cylinder in liquid form under pressure and consequently the need for a compressor would be mitigated. Also by using carbon dioxide under pressure, the gas is necessarily in a cooled state on emergence from the cylinder and consequently heating of the articles during treatment is minimized.

A preferred inorganic material which can be used consists of aluminum oxide particles of a size described below.

A surface of leather treated as above is cleaned and/ or decolorized thereby and the surface is rendered suitable for re-dyeing, the pores remaining open. Other methods of cleaning usually leave the pores clogged making it difficult to re-dye the leather.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example.

A light shot or sand blasting gun fed by variable fluid pressure is used to carry out the method of the invention. Into the fluid stream is introduced shot comprising particles of a size chosen to suit the surface of the material to be treated. The controllable pressure of the shot-containing fluid stream emanating from the blasting gun 3,130,083 Patented Apr. 21, 1964 nozzle, the orifice size of which can be varied between 0.0075 diameter and 0.50" diameter, can range from 0.5 p.s.i. to 300 p.s.i. The particles are important both in choice of material and size, a typical range of particle size being 0.002 diameter to 0.060" diameter. All the above factors play an important part in producing the desired result on the surface to be treated.

The surface being treated is first subjected to a fluid stream at low pressure with shot just light enough to clean the surface and then a fluid pressure and shot size regulated to suit the desired finished surface is subsequently applied. For example, if a very smooth finish Was required, a medium fluid pressure and fine particle size Would be used.

By using shot of diiferent materials various effects may be obtained by intermixing various types and grades of material to produce the required effect on the article being treated.

Also by using aluminum oxide, Carborundnm, corundum, glass beads or granite chips as the abradant, frictional heat at the surface being treated is also minimised owing to the relatively high thermal conductivity of these materials and the consequent removal of frictional heat in the shot.

What I claim is:

1. A method of treating articles of leather in which frictional overheating of the same is minimized comprising subjecting the surface to be treated to a stream of cooled fluid containing particles of aluminum oxide wherein the pressure of the cooled fluid stream lies between 0.5 p.s.i. and 300 p.s.i. and the particles have a diameter in the range from 0.002 inch to .060 inch.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the cooled fluid is selected from the group consisting of gaseous air, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,814 Coetlogon May 17, 1892 1,034,301 Redeker July 30, 1912 1,507,151 Bennett Sept. 2, 1924 1,916,633 Mulvany July 4, 1933 2,222,656 Erkel Nov. 26, 1940 2,285,157 Grayson June 2, 1942 2,384,458 Dubay Sept. 11, 1945 2,774,679 Remer Dec. 18, 1956 2,923,109 Pelley Feb. 2, 1960 2,996,846 Leliaert Aug. 22, 1961 

1. A METHOD OF TREATING ARTICLES OF LEATHER IN WHICH FRICTIONAL OVERHEATING OF THE SAME IS MINIMIZED COMPRISING SUBJECTING THE SURFACE TO BE TREATED TO A STREAM OF COOLED FLUID CONTAINING PARTICLES OF ALUMINUM OXIDE WHEREIN THE PRESSURE OF THE COOLED FLUID STREAM LIES BETWEEN 0.5 P.S.I. AND 300 P.S.I. AND THE PARTICLES HAVE A DIAMETER IN THE RANGE FROM 0.002 INCH TO .060 INCH. 